NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Clear Channel Communications disclosed Tuesday that Chairman and CEO Lowry Mays was hospitalized for brain surgery Friday.
The nation's No. 1 radio broadcaster also reported a better-than-forecast increase in first-quarter earnings.
The company said Mays had surgery to relieve swelling of the brain caused by localized bleeding and a small blood clot. It said he was admitted to the hospital after having numbness on his left side, a warning sign of stroke. It described the surgery as successful and said he is in good spirits and mentally alert.
The broadcaster earned $100.3 million, or 16 cents a share, excluding special items, up from 12 cents on that basis a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call forecast EPS of 14 cents, with a range of estimates from 13 to 18 cents.
The company said it expects full-year EPS to increase in the high teens to low 20-percent range. First Call forecasts an increase of 21 percent to $1.42 a share.
The company announced during the quarter it would drop the show of radio personality Howard Stern, which it purchased from Viacom's Infinity Broadcasting. It also announced that it would drop one of its own personalities, Bubba the Love Sponge, due to a new emphasis on preventing on-air indecency. The company was hit by proposed fines from the Federal Communications Commission for both personalities.
Shares of Clear Channel (CCU: Research, Estimates) gained 54 cents to $42.03 in Monday trading.
|
